Across the Seas but Forever Bees - An American Brentford Podcast

20 years ago today we drew with Scunthorpe in front of almost, but not quite, 4000 fans.  For any club, hammering Spurs and Birmingham City in 4 days time would be legendary.  But from where Brentford once was to who they are now is literally without precedent.  We've rubbed the right lamp, and asked for the right wish.  In truth this is the doings of a short list of heros, above all Matthew Benham and Phil Giles.  What a wonderful adventure we're on.

Michel Cowdrey is in the studio to talk with Tim and Greville about the Atlanta Fan Fest and t...

Spurs at home.  And we might be very good.  All things are comin' up Brentford as we approach the coming season.  We've allowed Greville Waterman and Glenn Houlihan back into the studio to discuss the start of what could be a glorious campaign.  

Thanks for listening and for all the feedback, some of it even positive.  We appreciate your opinions so much.  And the offer stands:  If you'd like to come on and add your voice, please write to timsearls@hotmail.com, and we'll get you on the podcast!

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WE ARE BACK!

Across the Seas but Forever Bees returns for a 6th season, all gloriously spent in the Premier League.  What a long, strange trip it's been.

The brilliant Glenn Houlihan and Greville Waterman come in to ASFB Towers to discuss what may prove to be our most successful season yet.  Or not.  There are no easy seasons in the PL.

What a difference a year makes.  Everyone had us picked to go down last year at this time, and who could blame them.  But 2026-2027 is on paper our stron...

If you're hunting for a place in Europe, it's definitely two points dropped.  If you watched the match maybe you're wondering how we got the one.  Crazy days at the Gtech as Brentford's last home match ends with a wimper, then with a bang.

Sorting out our stumble to the finish line is Greville Waterman and Glenn Houlihan.  Absolutely a fascinating conversation about the ups and downs of a sometimes difficult spring.

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We apparently have an apartment leased out for the year in 7th place, and we move back there this week with a convincing win over relegation threatened West Ham.  The end of the year is always fascinating, as little events become blown out of all proportion as the points left dimish.

Greville Waterman treks into the studio to talk about where was are and where we might be going, with a strong finish.  

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This is why we enjoy this great game!  Chances at both ends, a howling crowd, a match with ebbs and flows of dominance.  Sometimes in the Premier League you're quality isn't there, and you win somehow anyway.

Sometimes you play one of your best matches of the season, and get nothing.  

Here to help Tim and Greville figure out a match with with more twists and turns than the Maine coastline is Abhi Goyal (he of the Red Lion Massive).  Abhi is so well informed and his opinions so smart that this will entertain and info...

Instead of trying to unpack a dismal morning at home to Fulham, we focus on the glorious events of the latest Fan Fest.  Our correspondent in the field Michel Cowdry has come back to ASFB Towers to report on the impressive show that Brentford Football Club put on at Fan Fest.  

Worth a listen this week not only for Michel's stories from Tampa but also for the outrageous picks our resident 'expert' on all thing football makes regarding next weekend's game?  Is he right??  We'll see.

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...and eventually if you only have a small army that takes its toll.  Greville Waterman and Tim Searls are in the studio to talk about an Everton match that will live long in the memory.  Somehow we're still seventh (it seems we've been 7th since Christmas!), but with what's left of a depleted side running on fumes, can we stay there?  

The small business of Harry Wilson and F*lhum next!

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A beleaguered Brentford gets a point at Elland Road - a remarkable feat of some brave and determined athletes at the end of their limits.  We get to that match eventually, but first lets have a wonderful conversation with Bruce Muni (he of the Church of the Red Lion) about his history as a Brentford fan.  Greville Waterman and Tim Searls can't help but going down some memory lanes along the way.

Please don't hesitate to contact the pod!  timsearls@hotmail.com

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Brentford appear to be staggering a bit, with an injury-hit squad and some weary legs after a grueling season.  But not here at ASFB Towers, where we have the luxury of bringing Glenn Houlihan in off the bench, which strengthens us incredibly (he really should be a starter here).  

All is not lost after a difficult month or so, and if you'd offered us 7th by mid-March we'd have be more than happy back in August.  We take such positives as there is from the Wolves match and we move on.

A really interesting conversation as...

Yah, I'd rather be us.  But being so, so close to a semi-final (you know we'd have beaten Leeds at home!) and a trip to Wembley in the FA Cup... 

Still, I'd rather be us.

We are so lucky to get Michel Cowdrey back into ASFB Towers to discuss his slightly made football holiday, and to help us look forward to the Fan Fest coming up.  

From there we're trying not to take the West Ham match too badly as we nervously looking forward to a match against a suddenly rampaging Wolves.

I...

Michael White joins Tim and Greville in the studio to embark on a conversation  about the crazy win against Burnley and then the meek draw at Bournemouth.  But this podcast is much more than that.  What you'll hear is a free-flowing conversation about where Brentford is and who Brentford is, about VAR (and ways maybe to improve it), and about the squad going forward during the injury plagued latter stages of the campaign.

It's always a joy to talk football, but Michael's insight and knowledge makes this an important conversation to be having right now.  

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Thanks for tuning in as we range over a busy week of football, from the Thursday match against the top rated team in all of English football to four days later doing combat with the seventh best team in the National League North; from Champions League to the sixth tier of the English leagues.  And you know what?  They were both tough.  Different tough, but challenges all the same.  

In the studio with me to examine a pivotal week in this wonderful season is Greville Waterman.  We look back at a riveting match at the Gtech against Arsen...

The Brentford women have a season that in many ways has exceeded even their own lofty expectations!   The woman are out in front in their league and looking at the possibility of promotion.  This Sunday they play #2 in Saltdean, and it's at the Gtech!   There is so much at stake in this match, and it should be incredible.  

Gary Enstone and Richard Merritt are in the studio to talk the rise and rise of this great club.  If you cannot get to the Gtech there's so much happening around the club it's still very much worth listening, as yo...

The pure fantasy continues unabated as we follow a gutsy win at Villa Park with our first win at Newcastle since 1934.  Greville Waterman and Tim Searls are in studio to look back at a match at St. James Park that had more improbable twists than a Harry Potter novel.  Confess:  Who rubbed that genie lamp and wished for all this 15 years ago?  

The small task of Arsenal is up ahead of us, but we're Brentford.  Humble but brave, as the former manager used to say.  

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Dustin Senor is back in the studio finally, and along with Greville Waterman we're talking the crazy and memorable events that occurred at Villa Park last Sunday.  It had a bit of everything, this one!  

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On the 13th anniversary of a memorable day at Griffin Park we remember the Rosler team that almost pulled off a remarkable Cup shock for the ages. 

New York's own Charlie Corr is here to add much needed expertise to a discussion of a less profitable day at The Gtech and, along with Greville Waterman, looks ahead to the challenging trip to Villa Park.

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I've been asking since the start of the season "who are we", and this week we found out:  We're quite good.  Has there been a more gloriously played defeat in our history?  We battered Chelsea 0-2!  The rest of this season will be a wild ride, but it's going to be fun supporting these players and this manager, and of course this club.

Along to celebrate our success (all things are relative after all) is Brian Corrigan from San Francisco and the ubiquitous Greville Waterman, he of North London.

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Adam Bishop is in the studio with Greville Waterman and Tim Searls this week.  What a week it's been.  A thorough demolition of Sunderland, and a smooth win at Hillsborough in the FA Cup.  Brentford is just so much fun to support.

Shout out to the Seattle Brentford Supporters Club!

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What a difference a few weeks makes.  After the capitulations at Spurs and Man City it could have gone so wrong.  Yet here we are in the new year 7th after the demolition of Everton in their new building.

In the studio to discuss all these holiday gifts are Glenn Houlihan and Greville Waterman.  What a time to be a Bee!

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Forget it's Wolves, forget the capitulation at City.  Three points, 12th, looking down at Spurs, 10 points from trouble.  What blip?

To discuss the changing emotions a win brings are Glenn Houlihan and Greville Waterman.

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Blip?  Worrying trend?  Managerial crisis?  All of those?  Something entirely else?  History only will judge, but to try to make sense of this draw with Leeds the pod reaches out to our expert from Iowa Glenn Houlihan.  Along with Greville Waterman and Tim Searls the mini-crisis, or whatever this is, is unpacked.

Go all-in again Man City Wednesday?  Save it for a 'must win' against Wolves?  We agree to disagree.

Really entertaining talk about all things Brentford.

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Seasons have highs and lows.  Will Canu and Greville Waterman join to find a host of silver linings and reasons to be cheerful after a tough, tough week.  We probe the psychology of home and away mindsets, we think about squad depth as the January window comes into view, and we try to not let Spurs get in our heads.

There's no question this wasn't the performances we had hoped for, but there's always another match coming up to make things right.  We'll take out our frustrations on Leeds.

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Burnley swept aside (though it didn't feel that easy for about 85 minutes!), we look ahead to the small matter of a week featuring Arsenal and "Thomas Frank's Spurs".  Somehow the Brentford Miracle is rolling again, and we're starting to look up rather than down at this table.  

Which will never get old.  

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Greville and Tim have to discuss a disappointing Saturday down in South London, but then we're on to a bigger conversation about what we know about Brentford Football Club after a quarter of the season gone.  

Are we on the right track?  Are we in a false position at 12th in the table, or is this who we rightly are this season?  We try to make some sense of the most turbulent off-season and first ten matches in many years.

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You follow up wins against Liverpool and Grimsby Town with an amazing, fantastic, engaging guest who describes it all with insight and character.  A podcaster's dream!

Alison Roberts is in the studio to talk about her Brentford experience, and to add knowledge, humor and personality our summary of a wonderful October.  Such a pleasure to talk to yet another amazing American fan, which I hope comes across. 

Greville and Tim are here as well, as we talk a big view of a team on the up.  What a time to be a Brentford fan.

Te...

Abhi Goyal from the NYC Massive down at the Red Lion visits the pod to talk with Greville and Tim about the surprisingly comfortable win against West Ham, the state of the Bees, and a look forward to Liverpool and Grimsby.

Just discussing Josh DaSilva again as a member of the club is the feel-good moment of the year.

Text the pod! I'd love to hear from you directly as well - please email me at timsearls@hotmail.com.

A week of reflection and anticipation, as the international hiatus finally gives way to a Monday of Brentford.  Greville and I are equal parts eager and anxious as we look ahead to West Ham. 

No question, after all the players out and with a new novice manager the questions as to our ceiling and floor dominate our thoughts.  

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Michel Cowdrey is in the studios to talk Fan Fest (with a bit of Josh DaSilva gossip thrown in!), and along with the ubiquitous Greville Waterman we get to glory in this great club taking it to the hapless Manchester United.  They really don't like playing us!

Another super-fun conversation with a knowledgeable and entertaining guest.  I hope you enjoy the pod as much as we did making it.

Studio editor:  Tim, people can't be 'ubiquitous'.  Please try to do better...

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Glenn Houlihan checks in from Iowa to discuss the difficult transition that Brentford Football Club is making from the 'Thomas Frank Era' to who we are now.  

Along with Tim Searls and Greville Waterman an attempt is made to make sense of three matches that in sum tell a story.  

Who are we now?  And what can we become? 

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Our long club-wide nightmare is finally over.  Tarky and Rowlands now have a third musketeer of shame.  

Rob Pittman is the most Bees-tastic guest maybe ever!  Rob and Greville and Tim look back at a frustrating evening up in Sunderland, and ruminate on one dramatic transfer window.  Never dull.

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What a week!  A huge win at home versus Villa and a League Cup win at Bournemouth has the nay-sayers (and they are legion, aren't they?) suddenly claiming they never had us tipped for relegation.  We know who you are!

Jay Altair comes up the coast to join Greville Waterman and Tim Searls in Studio 2 for a superb discussion of a superb week.

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Well.  That was something.  

What it was hopefully was a glitch in the matrix and all will be right with the world again after Villa.  'Cause Jeez that was pretty terrible, Keith.

In therapy talking it over with me is Alex Drake, all the way from North Carolina, and Greville Waterman, all the way from Norf London.

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All of us to varying degrees are worried how we replace all those goals from last season.  Steve D'Amico from Orlando and Greville Waterman try to talk Tim Searls off the roof as we consider the options and circumstances.

The season is here!  The Keith Andrews Era officially begins against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.  Can't wait.

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It starts again.  Charlie Corr is in the house from New York City and Greville Waterman is here from North London to talk the state of the Bees.  We're two weeks from the start of our fifth season in the Premier League, against ALL predictions from the 'experts'.  Let it be ever thus under the radar.

It's going to be a fun season and I hope you'll give the pod a listen.  And if you'd like to take part please do not hesitate to contact me at timsearls@hotmail.com .  We'll get you on!

...

This Summer is breaking the mold for Brentford, who usually watch other club's close-season chaos with a bit of disdain.  Well, madness has struck our club, with the manager gone and star players on the way out (or not!).

Tim Searls asks the questions that need to be asked to Greville Waterman in a fascinating podcast about what the club is and what it might be in the upcoming season.

I start the podcast far more concerned than I end it, which is nice.

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It's what my Italian barber used to say to me when I was a kid.  Still true, and never so much as when we, at almost whiplash speed, replace one quite good keeper with another who could be even better.  

Tom Colwell is up from Philadelphia and Greville Waterman calls in from North London to think about what it all means - in this first close-season podcast.

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We're blessed to support this club.  For going on a decade now, each season has been a wonderful adventure - each one different, each with it's ups and downs.  But how many clubs have our ups/downs ratio???  To look back and to peak forward we have Iowa's own Glenn Houlihan back, along with Greville Waterman from North London.  

It's the final podcast of the season, a podcast that was started by our OG host Ryan Dull (Comic Book Guy to many of you).  It's once again been a pleasure to talk football and to meet...

We didn't want to qualify for any stinking European tournaments anyway.  

Oscar Thompson, all the way from Hollywood California, and Greville Waterman, all the way from North London, are the fantastic guests this week.  

On a glorious day in West London on the penultimate weekend of this remarkable season, Brentford comes unstuck in three fateful minutes and the points go to Fulham.  It never feels good to lose, and it always feels worse when you know you shouldn't have lost.  Add to that it's a local rival and long-time nemesis, and it really does hurt.  

W...

Every time you think this adventure couldn't get any more surreal, you come to something even better.  Eighth place at stake with two to play, the possibility of Brentford Football Club playing in Europe (and let that sink in for a minute), a squad of players that just goes from strength to strength...and Fulham at home.  

We look back at some memorable Fulham moments and ahead to an exciting 4 team mini-league sprint to the end of the season.

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